Bicycle Theft Ring in Coconut Grove
Recently, there have been a significant amount of bicycle thefts in Coconut Grove and the University of Miami campus. A Miami Police officer said they believe a bicycle theft ring is operating out of Coconut Grove. The thieves are professionals and most of the locks sold for locking up a bike are not a deterrent. The thieves are able to pick both key and combination locks within a few minutes and ride off with your bike. Police officers are unable to file a report without serial numbers and even with serial numbers, the bikes are unlikely to be recovered.
One thief is a Caucasian male about 50-60 years old, bald with very short salt and pepper hair below the ear line, about 5’10”, weighing about 160 lbs. He was seen wearing a white polo shirt and Bermuda shorts fitting into the scene as a typical tourist. He prefers to work when the streets are busy. He will stake out an area looking for high profile bikes and go to work on the bicycle as soon as the owner has locked it up and gone into a store or restaurant. He typically has stolen the bicycle within 15 minutes of the owner leaving the bike.
At the last art walk I locked my bicycle to the light post outside the gallery on McFarland. When I came out of the gallery, I was walking over to CocoWalk to continue the Art Walk and noticed a suspicious man sitting on the newspaper box right next to my bike. I walked right past and as I crossed the street something made me turn and look back. I knew something wasn’t right. I took out my phone camera and pretended to make a photo of the street. As I panned toward my bike the man quickly took off down McFarland, crossed the street and came back up to sit down at Johnny Rockets to scope my bike. I was unable to get a clear photo of him. When I went back to my bike, the seat had been adjusted down and two of the four numbers on the combination lock were already picked. Yesterday, my wife had her bicycle stolen from the bike rack across the street from Greenstreet Cafe. As she returned to her bike after a brief shopping walk, she saw her bike being pedaled down Main Highway. We both had heavy cable combination locks – obviously too easy to pick. I’ve been told by police that most keyed locks are just as vulnerable to picking and freezing.
So what can you do?
First, be very aware of your surroundings! Second, spend some dough on the best locks. I spoke to Darren at Scoot, Skate & Bike Company and this is what he told me I could do to increase the deterrent. First, use a small U-bolt style lock to lock the frame to a pole. The small lock makes it more difficult to turn and maneuver the bike to position theft tools. He recommended the Kryptonite Evolution Mini-5 as having a lock that is difficult to pick. But then I asked, “What about the wheels?” The seat and wheels are protected with a different technology that works in combination with a small U-bolt frame lock.
Skewers allow the quick removal and adjustment of bicycle wheels and saddles. This convenient technology also allows thieves to quickly steal valuable bicycle components. The Zefal Lock-n-Roll skewers use a patented technology to keep the skewers locked until the bike is turned upside down. When the frame is securely locked to a structure with a small U-bolt, the thief is unable to invert the bike to unlock the skewers. So in combination with a small U-bolt, the skewers add the additional security to protect the whole bike with a quick locking device.
Additional tips for keeping your bike secure
- Always lock your bike, especially at home. This includes your garage, patio, yard, college residence hall, apartment building, when carrying on a car rack, etc.
- Lock your bike in a well-lit area where there are other bikes.
- Do not lock your bike in the same location all the time.
- Make sure your bike cannot be lifted over the object it is locked to.
- Create a snug fit with wheels and frame so that there is little space in the u-portion of the u-lock for a thief’s tools.
- Do not lock your bike to itself – front wheel or rear wheel to frame.
- Always position your u-lock with keyway facing down.
- Do not position your lock close to the ground where thieves can use tools to crush the lock.
- If you’re only locking one wheel, it is recommended that you capture the rear wheel as part of your lock-up. Replacement cost for the rear wheel can be up to double the cost of the front wheel.
- Never speak your combination and keep the entire cylinder covered with your hand when it is unlocked. If any sequence of numbers can be seen, the thief can align the cylinder and turn the combination to all 10 positions very quickly.